incremental find - Computer Definition

Moving an index character by character when searching for information. Incremental find enables finding a result with fewer keystrokes, because the user is watching the index move keystroke by keystroke. Also called a "type-ahead index." See autocomplete.

Incremental Find

In this encyclopedia lookup example, typing "i p h" is sufficient to find all the terms that begin with "iPhone." As each character is typed, the matching term in the index scrolls to the top.